chicken predators

Help Support CattleToday:

dansangus

Active member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Location
east.central.mn
Came home last night-hour after sundown,and found two hens in chicken house dead with heads and necks gone. Took the carcasses and put them on top of rabbit hutch. Top of hutch is about 5 ft. off the ground. This morning dead bird were found in different locations.First thought was a weasel,but what could get on top of the hutch? What animal would be able to get inside a chicken house and be able to get on top of this hutch? Over run with coyotes in this area,but didn't think they would eat the heads and leave the carcass. Any help would be appreciated. Dan
 
Most likely raccoon(s)

If you are not willing to stay up and catch them in the act with a 22, then they are pretty easy to get into a live animal trap with catfood. They will be back now that they have found you. They are very good at opening things, watched a documentary on them one time, pretty crafty. Luckily my son likes to trap.

Don't think there would be many chickens left in there if it were a coyote.
 
Rafter S":2c0dyfct said:
I hope not for his sake,

I saw one going to my front barn the other morning. I'm not looking forward to having to trap that critter, the likelihood of me being sprayed with my luck is pretty high.
 
Cats, raccoons, minks, fishers, foxes, possums and some larger weasels will do that. Spotted skunk can climb but I don't think that striped skunks will be able get chickens off the hutch.
 
bigbull338":1gnerlny said:
skunks coons and possums take the heads off of chickens.


:nod: if it was coyotes, all you would find would be a few feathers.. mink and weasels don't take the head, think they chew the neck and drink the blood..Had a mink just about wipe us out one year. Finally, trapped him, but pretty crafty critter.
 
Muddy":3liyf16b said:
Weasels and minks do indeed eat heads, trust me on it.

I stand corrected Muddy. Weasels will take the head....mink typically do not, they open neck and drink blood, but people have reported mink occasionally taking a head. Ours never consumed a head.
 
There's a seemingly never ending list of animals that will kill chickens, and a surprising number of them will only take the heads on occasion. I have no idea why, but it seems more often than not people find dead chickens with no heads. I've heard of confirmed cases of mink, weasels, coons, possums, and skunks tearing the heads off over the years.
 
bball":w5jugrcd said:
Muddy":w5jugrcd said:
Weasels and minks do indeed eat heads, trust me on it.

I stand corrected Muddy. Weasels will take the head....mink typically do not, they open neck and drink blood, but people have reported mink occasionally taking a head. Ours never consumed a head.
Caught a weasel eating a head off the chicken and then it went on a killing spree, leaving countless headless chickens laying around before I trapped that stinker. We lost 75 chickens to that weasel and it only ate two chickens.....
 
In Australia if that happened it would be "London to a brick on" a fox. You probably don't understand our saying there haha. It is betting odds, you would have to bet London to win a brick, in other words an absolute certainty.
Ken
 
wbvs58":2de29vm3 said:
In Australia if that happened it would be "London to a brick on" a fox. You probably don't understand our saying there haha. It is betting odds, you would have to bet London to win a brick, in other words an absolute certainty.
Ken
Chupacabra...............
and Bob's your uncle.
 
M-5":3rlkrbij said:
Owls, ive seen them light on the roost and walk them off and pull heads off.
Owls dehead them and they also will come back for more. I've caught them by hanging the carcass as near as possible to were it was found . Hang it a foot off the ground and put a couple of legs traps under it.
 
Very likely a possum. I was awoken a couple years ago to a barn cat going crazy outside and went to check it out and shined a flashlight on a nasty possum knawing through the neck of a chicken, blood all over its face and nasty looking teeth. Honestly that vision still kind of haunts me. I told an older friend of mine and he said yep, possums are blood thirsty.
 
If you catch a skunk in a live trap you can simply cover the trap with an old sheet (holding it in front of you as you approach the trap). Pick up the trap and do as you please.
 

Latest posts

Top